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English singer Eric "Slow Hand" Clapton plays guitar the way other men breathe. His liquid riffs are mandatory study for any aspiring guitar god, while his professional work ethic has earned him the respect of generations of his fellow musicians. His style is firmly rooted in classic American blues tradition, but he can go soft or psychedelic as the situation requires. Clapton got his start with mod icons The Yardbirds, who kept their blues-rock loud and loose and Clapton's reputation as a guitar genius inspired a national wave of "CLAPTON IS GOD" graffiti. The guitarist set off on his own in 1966 to form the band Cream. Cream's sound was more swinging London than Mississippi delta, and they're often credit with making some of the first heavy metal music. They had a pop hit with the spacey "I Feel Free" and caught attention in the US with their loud and heavy single "Sunshine Of Your Love." Clapton took a moment to show off his skills on Cream's cover of Robert Johnson's legendary "Cross Road Blues." But the modest Clapton was uncomfortable in the spotlight, and in 1970 he formed a band of scene veterans under the name Derek & the Dominos. Clapton had put in some un-credited studio work with former Beatle George Harrison and had fallen passionately in love with George's wife, Pattie Boyd. Few recordings are as viscerally desperate as Derek & the Domino's LP Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. The title track "Layla" was a fiery plea to Pattie and "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" was a heartfelt instant classic. Clapton had become heavily involved in drugs and alcohol while recording and touring, and his 1974 classic 461 Ocean Boulevard was an understated collection of loose blues with a heavy reggae influence-it introduced much of the world to Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff." Eric Clapton had an emotional and commercial revival with 1992's MTV Unplugged album and he's since had huge success with From the Cradle, Pilgrim and Me and Mr. Johnson.

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